Terra Australis Land of the Imagination Australian Chamber Choir Directed by Douglas Lawrence OAM Great choral works are linked by year with voyages in search of Terra Australis, the fabled Great Southern Land, and later expeditions charting Australia and Antarctica. The Australian Chamber Choir rehearses in Melbourne, on the land of the Kulin nation. We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people as the traditional custodians of this land and pay respect to their Elders past and present. We honour the diverse cultures and languages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise their resilience, capacity, and contribution to society. MELBOURNE 16 June at 3 pm: Our Lady of Mount Carmel 210 Richardson St, Middle Park, Vic, Australia RIBE 2 July at 11 am: Ribe Cathedral Summer Concerts Torvet 15, 6760 Ribe, Denmark COPENHAGEN 4 July at 4 pm: Trinitatis, Summer Concerts at Trinity Church Pilestraede 67, 1150 Copenhagen, Denmark BERLIN 6 July at 6 pm: Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Choral Vespers Breitscheidplatz, 10789, Berlin, Germany HANNOVER 9 July at 6 pm: Christuskirche, Hannover Conrad-Wilhelm-Hase-Platz 1, Hannover, Germany BONN 10 July at 8 pm: Remigiuskirche (Beethoven’s Church) Music in St. Remigius Brüdergasse 8, Bonn, Germany KOKSIJDE 12 July at 8 pm: Our Lady of the Dunes, Koksijde International Summer Organ Festival Kerkplein 2, Koksijde, Belgium PARIS 14 July at 11 am: American Church, 65 Quai d’Orsay, 75007, Paris LONDON 16 July at 7.30 pm: St Martin in the Fields, Candlelight Series, Trafalgar Square, London, UK DARMSTADT 17 July at 8 pm: Pauluskirche, International Summer Organ Festival Paulusplatz, Niebergallweg, Darmstadt, Germany PRIEN 19 July at 7 pm: Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt Marktplatz, Prien am Chiemsee, Germany TÜBINGEN 20 July at 7 pm: Freie Waldorfschule Rotdomweg 30, Tübingen, Germany STUTTGART 21 July at 7 pm: Nikolauskirche, Stuttgart International Organ Festival Werastrasse 120, Stuttgart, Germany MACEDON 10 August at 3 pm: Church of the Resurrection, Macedon, Corner of Mt Macedon Rd and Honour Avenue, Macedon, Australia GEELONG 11 August at 3 pm: Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, Geelong,136 Yarra St, Geelong, Australia SYDNEY 25 August at 3.30 pm: with Amy Johansen, organ, Organ Recital Series Great Hall, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006 In the following program notes, information about the search for Terra Australis, the history of its people, and early representations of the Australian and Antarctic continents on the world map is shown in black. Information about musical works is shown in red. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people please be advised that this booklet contains images of deceased persons. 2 PROGRAM 1. Tom Henry (1971–) ‘This Earth’ and ‘Rain’ from Kakadu Man (2015) Texts by Bill Neidjie OAM 2. Two Secular Songs from Harmonice Musices Odhecaton (Third Edition, Venice, 1504) Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521) ‘Bergerette Savoyenne’ Anonymous ‘Gentil Prince’ Josquin des Prez (c. 1450–1521) ‘Gloria’ from Missa Pange Lingua 3. John IV, King of Portugal (1604–1656) Crux fidelis Vicente Lusitano (?–c. 1561) Heu me Domine 4. Claudio Merulo (1533–1604) Salvum fac populum tuum (Published Venice, 1594) 5. Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–c.1621) ‘Or soit loué’ from Livre Troisieme des Psaumes de David (1614) Hodie Christus natus est (1619) 6. Alan Holley (1956–) Time Passages (2019) (First performance) Text by Mark Tredinnick (1962–) INTERVAL 7. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) Two songs for men’s voices ‘Gesang der Mönche’ (1817), ‘Abschiedsgesang’ (1814) Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) Denn er hat seinen Engeln befohlen über dir (1844) 8. Claude Debussy (1862–1918) Trois Chansons de Charles d’Orléans (1898) 3 9. Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) O sacrum convivium (1937) 10. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230 (Published 1820) 11. Tom Henry (1971–) ‘Sacred’ and ‘Return to Earth’ from Kakadu Man (2015) PROGRAM NOTES Indigenous Australians inhabited country for over 50,000 years before Europeans knew of their existence. Legends of Terra australis incognita (unknown southern land) are found in Greco-Roman writings; Aristotle speculated that a large land mass in the southern hemisphere might ‘balance’ the corresponding known land masses in the northern hemisphere. For centuries, this was nothing more than a philosophical speculation. Then, from the sixteenth century, as explorers navigated the globe, the Australian continent gradually became known and represented on the world map. The concept of an unknown continent excited the imagination and several European writers produced fantasy De Jode Map (1593) fiction describing gothic monsters, showing fantasy illustrations giant birds and mythical animals. Sometimes, these monsters found their way into illustrations on maps, blurring the boundaries between fiction and science. So it was that Europeans imagined life in Australia before setting foot on the continent. 4 Indigenous Australians arrived on the continent between 40,000 and 70,000 years ago. As Europeans speculated about the peoples, animals, and landscape of what they called Terra Australis, Indigenous Australians cared for and thrived on its land. The major expression of their spirituality, known in English as the Dreaming, is an all-encompassing, timeless lived experience. Dreaming Narratives are associated with Ancestral Beings, and can take the form of rituals, visual art, stories, dances, places, ceremonies, and songs. They contain deep knowledge of country and are a means of transmitting knowledge between generations. Framed by settings of the timeless poetry of Bill Neidjie OAM, this program embarks upon parallel journeys: European voyages of discovery are mapped alongside choral works from the same years. Bill Neidjie with grandson Ricky Bill Neidjie, a Gagudju elder and member of the Bunitj clan, was the last surviving speaker of the Gagudju language. He was keen to ensure that the rich history of his people would not be forgotten, and broke taboos by publishing some of their Dreaming Narratives in two books of poetry. The poems speak of a place where the spiritual world meets the physical. 5 Tom Henry (1971–) ‘This Earth’ and ‘Rain’ from Kakadu Man (2015) Poems by Bill Neidjie OAM (Alawanydajawany, Alligator River c.1920– Cannon Hill, 23 May 2002) Text set to music and printed with permission from the Djabulukgu Assoc. Inc., in particular from John and Natasha Nadji This earth I never damage. I look after. This ground and this earth, like brother and mother. Earth. Like your father or brother or mother, because you born from earth. You (got to) come back to earth. We come from earth, bones. We go to earth, ashes. Rain Each billabong can be dry… no fish, [no] turtle, nothing. New rain coming up, That rain make everything [new] again. Rain give us everything new. Plenty fish, turtle, lily. Yam, creeper, all plants new. …fruit [and] honey (and) things to live. Rain for us, for everybody [everyone]. He come along wet season (and go dry season). Rain give us everything new. 6 Italian Exploration and Cartography 1504: Francesco Rosselli, a Florentine engraver moved to Venice with a view to selling his maps. He produced the first world map to include the New World and, in 1508, the first world map drawn on an oval Francesco Rosselli, World Map on an oval projection projection. The maps (1508) drew on information recorded by Rosselli’s fellow Italians, Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo. Marco Polo gave extensive descriptions of Asian lands and also mentioned Terra Australis. Harmonice Musices Odhecaton – One Hundred Songs of Harmonic Music, was published by Petrucci in Venice in 1501. It was the first book of polyphony to be printed using moveable type. The collection included songs in three and four voice parts, mostly in Franco-Flemish style, by some of the most famous composers of the time, including Ockeghem and Josquin des Prez. Reprinted in 1502 and 1504, the distribution of this edition throughout Europe contributed to making the Franco Flemish style the dominant musical language of Europe for the next century. King Henry VIII claimed to have composed one of the book’s anonymous songs, Gentil Prince de Renom. However, King Henry was born in 1491; although he later composed Past Time with Good Company and other works, he is not known to have been a child prodigy. It seems unlikely that he could have composed Gentil Prince before his tenth birthday. 7 Two Secular Songs from Harmonice Musices Odhecaton, Third Edition (Venice, 1504) Josquin des Prez (c.1450–1521) IL: Bergerette savoyenne, HE: Shepherdess of Savoy, Qui gardez moutons aux praz: Who guards the sheep in the fields, Dy moy si vieulx estre myenne: Tell me if you will be mine: Je te donray uns soulas, I will give you some entertainment, Et ung petit chapperon; And a little bonnet; Dy moy se tu m aymeras, Tell me if you will love me, Ou par la merande ou non. Whether it is deserved or not. ELLE: Je suis la proche voisine SHE: I am the nearest neighbour De monsieur le cura, Of the curate, Et pour chose qu on me die, And, whatever I am told, Mon vouloir ne changera, My desires will not change Pour François ne Bourgoignon. For Frenchman nor Burgundian. Par le cor Dé, si fera, By the power of God, it will be so, Ou par la merande ou non. Whether it is deserved or not. Anonymous Gentil Prince Noble Prince Gentil duc de Lorainne, Noble Duke of Lorainne, Prince de grand renom, Prince of great renown, Tu as la renommé e jusques delà Thy fame has spread even beyond les mons. the mountains. Et toy et tes gens d’armes et tous tes And thou and thy men-at-arms and compaignons companions Du premier coup qu’il frappe abatit Have with the first stroke brought les danjons; down the foe; Tirez, bonbardes, serpentines, Shoot, good soldiers, culverins, canons.